Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander, who has long advocated a sector-by-sector approach to climate change, is putting forth a “Manhattan Project for Clean Energy” which would include measures such as increased energy research funding, advanced nuclear energy deployment, improved battery technology, and greener buildings, ten “grand challenges” to help create cheap and clean sources of energy. “To provide the tools to create these breakthroughs, the federal government should double its funding for energy research and keep the United States number one in the world in advanced computing,” he said. “You don’t have to believe humans cause climate change to believe in the New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy, and you don’t have to be a Republican.”
According to a statement, Alexander’s goal is to “raise family incomes at home, strengthen our economy and show the rest of the world how to reduce carbon emissions — because the rest of the world is where the carbon emissions problem has to be solved…If we want to do something about climate change, we should use American research and technology to provide the rest of the world with tools to create low cost energy that emits fewer greenhouse gases.” See more below!
The Senator chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy.